November 26, 2011

Quick Note: I just wanted to extend my many thanks for all of the comments, really positive feedback and the overwhelming sharing this post and compilation has been getting, this post has been getting really good feedback from some of the artists involved as well and I just wanted to say that, this is what Hip Hop all is about, so if you have shared this on Tumbler, your blog, Facebook etc I just wanted to extend my gratitude.

What's good CRDS readers?...yes I know that it's a cliche, but what you hear on the radio is not Hip Hop music, Hip Hop music to me is hardcore and head nodding beats, clever samples, thoughtful rhymes that actually make sense and interesting rhyme patterns and schemes, rumbling bass lines, DJ cuts and authenticity, what you hear on the radio contains none of that...it's disposable, "junk food" Pop Rap and so much of of it is empty, gimmicky, stupid, devoid of soul, plastic "music" made by talentless "artists" and corporate chumps just to make money, however if you delve deeper into the underground and read a lot of blogs and you will see that true Hip Hop is alive and breathing in 2011...

Thankfully there are are dozens of artists that are staying true to what Hip Hop represents and keeping with the ethics, styles and sound production of the much missed 80's and 90's and a lot of kids that have been in the game for more than a few years have been releasing solid material and gaining new fans, while the old ones appreciate that they are still around, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Kurious, Diamond-D, Pharaoh Monch, Buckwild, Showbiz and A.G, Beastie Boys, J-Live, Celph Titled, various Wu Tang Clan members (especially Ghostface) Cyne, J-Rawls, K-Def, Marco Polo, EDO.G, Masta Ace, Constant Deviants, Madlib, Grap Luva (who has still not had a solo album yet haha) etc...that said there are some rap vets that have well to be frank...fallen the hell off and completely forgotten about their hardcore fans and are just chasing the mighty dollar, it's best not to mention them, but I am sure you all know who I am referring to.

I thank every one of these dope artists for keeping an incredible art form and culture alive, I also want to say that is so dope that we didn't lose the legendary Erick Sermon after a heart attack scare recently, thank goodness you are still with us trooper, you are one of my MC's and Producers ever and it would have been really hard to deal with losing E-Double.

November 21, 2011

Mello Music Group have knocked it out of the park yet again, this time it is rising Philadelphia MC and Producer Has-Lo...

Conversation B is a complete re-imagining/reworking of Has-Lo's dope In Case I Don't Make It album that was released earlier in 2011 and has beat contributions from...

The Audible Doctor, Kev Brown,Exile, Oddisse, Apollo Brown, ST-MIC, Small Pro, Eric Lau, IMAKEMADBEATS, Has-Lo himself (the superb "Maxwell UR" that speaks on how he remembers Hip Hop growing up) and others including my highlight off the album, the incredible "Light Years" produced by the highly under-rated J-Zone...

November 12, 2011

Heavy-D was born Dwight Errington Myers, May 24th 1967 in Mandeville, Jamaica in and moved to (Money earnin') Mount Vernon in the early 70's.

Heavy-D was a charismatic and very positive character that could both rhyme and dance his ass off...Hev was first and foremost but also a song writer, producer and actor in short he was a pure entertainer and an MC that always had multitudes of personality in his rhymes and he could make smooth jams for the Ladies, catchy Pop-Rap (that had a soul and a pulse) and he could bring it hardcore too not to mention the reggae and ragga and R & B tracks he appeared on, during his lifetime he also worked with greats Quincy Jones and BB King, Levert, Janet Jackson, Frankie Paul, Buju Banton and a multitude of other artists.

Hev was also the first cousin of the legendary Pete Rock who produced many tracks for Hev including some just recently this year that are still yet to be released.

I was first introduced to Heavy-D's music via the old school Wellington, New Zealand radio show The Uncut Funk Show (Radio Active 89 FM), to be honest I cannot remember it if was the legendary DJ Tee Pee or DJ Rhys-B that played Heavy-D & The Boyz (DJ Eddie-F, Trouble T Roy andG-Whiz -"Mr Big Stuff" released on Andre Harell'sUptown Records as the first signing way back in 1986 but I fondly remember having it on tape and it receiving much run in my walk-man player (wow that seems so long ago) just like the time an old High School friend that had the Heavy D & The Boyz debut album, Livin' Large on tape.

I loved the whole album and played the late, great James Brown sampling, Marley Marl produced classic "The Overweight Lover's In The House" jam a lot...around 1988 my old Friend Kory H from Maryland invited me to his place and showed me his crazy impressive tape collection and a whole bunch of videos (not to mention some beers and fennel seeds to cover up our breath, because his Dad would have got mad as hell and was seriously like Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air...even the beard was the same lol)...ahhh where was I? oh yes...one of the vids was a few of Heavy-D and The Boyz and I was in awe at the way Hev and his crew moved, especially Hev because he was a big fella..."We Write The Songs", the classic duet with the Juice Crew's Biz Markie D and Heavy-D was released the same year and appeared on the classic Marley Marl-In Control Volume 1.

By the time 1989 came around, I remember picking up their second album Big Tyme on tape, along with some cassingles (remember those?) and playing them over in my walk-man and at home on my stereo, I am pretty sure this was the first time I saw the name Pete Rock (he produced "Mood For Love", "A Better Land","Big Tyme" and "Let It Flow" on the album and I thought his beats were dope and had a feeling that would be name that I would be seeing and hearing a lot more of.

"Grylz They Love Me", "Ez Duz It and Do It Ez", "Let It Flow""You Aint Heard Nuthin' Yet" and "More Bounce" which sampled the classic Zapp "More Bounce To The Ounce" were my faves from that album, the same year Hev was invited to join the Boogie Down Productions crew alongside the late, great Fruitkwan, MC Delight, Wise and Daddy-O (Stetsasonic), MC Lyte, Chuck D & Flava Flav (Public Enemy), Miss Melodie, Just Ice, Doug E Fresh, Kool Moe Dee on the seminal "Stop The Violence" record collectively as the Stop The Violence Movement (overseen by Scott La Rock despite what others may think).

During the years 1989 and 1990 Heavy-D & The Boyz were touring extensively and in July 1990 Trouble T Roy's life was cut short after an accidental fall at a show in Indianapolis, you could tell that this affected Hev and the rest of the Boyz as their third album released in 1991 was titled Peaceful Journey...

Peaceful Journey went platinum and gave the crew a massive chart hit with their take on The O'Jays "Now That We Found Love" produced by Teddy Riley.

Peaceful Journey also had the classic posse cut "Don't Curse" with Kool G Rap, Grand Puba and Big Daddy Kane, CL Smooth, Pete Rock and Q-Tip and was produced by Pete Rock and number of other dope tracks produced by Pete, Marley Marl,Howie Tee and others.

Hev also wrote and performed the theme for In Living Color the same year and guested on Michael Jackson's "The Jam" off his Dangerous album.

In 1992 Pete Rock and CL Smooth released the timeless track "T.R.O.Y" which was a dedication track to Trouble T Roy (and others) and is quite simply one of the most beautiful, moving and incredible tracks Hip Hop has ever produced, Hev also released one of my all time faves in 1992 and a track showed that Heavy-D could tear the frame out of the mic on a hardcore track, "You Can't See What I Can See" produced by Chad Elliot and sampled by EDO.G & Da Bulldogs for "Check It Out" (1993)

During 1992 and 1993 Hev guested on records from the likes of Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Supercat, Queen Latifah...

Hev was also a member of the Flava Unit MC's who released "Roll Wit Tha Flava" in '93...

He also appeared on records by Mary J Blige, Naughty By Nature and others and he also had a cameo role in the comedy film Whos The Man? (1993) and released a single with the same title.

In late 1992 the groups' third album, Blue Funk was released and featured stellar production from DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Skeff Anslem, Tony Dofat, Steely and Cleevie and Jesse West who produced one of my all time favourite posse cuts in Hip Hop

The same year Heavy-D landed a recurring role on the TV sitcom Roc and later Living Single and in 1994 Heavy-D & The Boyz once again became steady chart favourites with the release of their fourth and final album Nuttin But Love.

The album featured the hits "Nuttin' But Love" (Produced by Kid Capri) "Black Coffee" (Produced by Easy Mo Bee) and "Got Me Waiting" (Produced by Pete Rock) other production came from the likes of Teddy Riley, Erick Sermon, Marley Marl and K-Def and Poke (Trackmasters), also in 1994 Eddie F released the Eddie F & The Untouchables album and featured the hit "Let's Get It On" which featured the late, great Notorious B.I.G, 2-Pac, Grand Puba and Spunk Bigga and Hev had more chart success with the R & B group Soul For Real...

After that album Hev went on to act in the film New Jersey Drive and contributed this dope Easy Mo Bee produced track to the soundtrack...

Hev was the president for a brief stint at Uptown Records, signed Herb McGruff and in 1997 dropped his first solo LP, Waterbed Hev which spawned the hit "Big Daddy" and was a commercial success, he followed that album with 2 other solo albums...

Heavy (1999) (my fave of his solo album releases) that featured the track "Listen" (with Q-Tip) produced by the late, great J-Dilla.

Other tracks on Heavy were produced by Tony Dofat, Erick Sermon and The Ummah and guests on the album included Cee-Lo, Chico Debarge, the late, great Big Pun and Eightball.

Hev released Vibes a catchy Pop-Reggae album in 2008 that also had a number of tracks produced byTony Dofat.

D got serious about his acting and starred in the Oscar nominated film The Cider House Rules, Life, and the short lived but great TV show Boston Public.

Before his untimely passing, Hev had been losing a great deal of weight, released an EP titled the Love Opus and performed on The BET music awards.

We lost a great one in Heavy-D...and yes Hev you were rough in your day :)

November 8, 2011

Uh-Oh here comes the true illness kids...Oxygen aka Ox The Architect (Sputnik Brown) flexes classic bars over more strictly head nodding dope DJ Spinna beats on "Brilliance" and with the NYC legends Diamond-D, Sadat-X and Kurious (who in my humble opinion would form a super group)on the classic break filled b-side "Four Times Raw" you know this is just an essential piece of music for the collection

Available on a limited edition 7" on Correct Technique Records and from the upcoming SPOX-"Sound Pieces of X-Perience" album, which Ox tells me will be limited to 300 pieces and the version of "Brilliance" found on the 45 won't be on the album, a version with a Jazz ensemble will appear on the album instead.

Details about where to pick up a copy of the 7"inch soon, Ox has said that the advances have all been snapped up.

If you haven't heard of Long Island's Ox The Architect before then you really need to get educated my boy (haha) because this cat is by no means a new jack, in fact he has been in the game for more than a few years...

November 3, 2011

Gensu Dean hails from Dallas, Texas is a dope producer that is dedicated to his SP-1200 and is a fanatical and true digger...he is also a recent signee to one of the greatest Hip Hop labels out these days and in my humble opinion, one of the dopest labels in Hip Hop history...Mello Music Group and is set to unleash his debut LP Standard Life in Feburary 2011, he has worked and produced with and for the likes of, the legendary Large Professor, Lord Jamar, Sadat-X, Nomadic Poet, The Planets, Melalton, Truth Universal, CL Smooth (check his remix album of American Me on his Bandcamp page below) and some of his first production credits were on the Crooked Letterz-"Caught Up In The Game" back in 1998.

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Copywrite-Read it and love it. Fuck those morons talkin shit about u "giving away free music". They'll complain no matter what u do. I've known camu longer than anyone in any crew he was ever in and I know he would love to be remembered for the obsession he put into his music and art. Much love fam. U even had "hear me talkin to you". A lot of people slept and never checked that out. Props fam. I'm gonna check the przm one out too. I miss both these people daily.

D.Lynch (Solid Scheme)-Thanks for the write up, you really did your homework. Thanks for taking me for a trip down memory lane. As for not seeing any photos of Solid Scheme your correct Chris and I were really on the low. We just made beats. Chris Passed away on March 9th 2001 of a suddden heart attack he was only 31That was my Dog! As for me I'm still making beats living in Los Angeles though originally from Brooklyn.

Hitman Howie Tee-Jaz, Your da man. Thanx for da hook up, what more can I say, but BIG BIG Thanx man. I'm in Orlando, FL now just chillin with the fam. I have maadd trax, but Hip-Hop is NOT the same, it's ALL about the money. When you do hip hop for the money, you make the money, But when you do hip hop for the love of hip hop, you make HISTORY (the money will come). Think About, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five did not get the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame becouse they made money. Hollaback

Salaam Remi-I Came across the blog u did on me while surfing the net,thanx a lot, appreciate it.

Scotti aka DJ Ace of Ace and Daquan-Jaz thanks for the respect, i was reading some comments you said about me,concerning give it up and hard to the core-Yeah i can't believe where all the time went....but those were the days of crazy creative Hip Hop. I no longer go by the name of DJ Ace but I am still producing-

The LG Experience-Jaz Whats Good.I want to thank you for your post on my work. Its crazy cause i've had your blog as a favorite for a while,but didn't check it for a min. I was copying links from some of the best sites I fuck wit to send to my boy in detroit & came across the post. I appreciate your interest dogs. I'm still makin heat.I'm currently workin on albums by Malay Sparks,Baby Blak,& B.A.M.

Yeshua dapoED-yo i absolutely love ur blog and this piece on guru...and the other awesome shit ur writng about..big ups man.. good shit